Nightcrawler: Fairway to Heaven

The Travelers Golf Championship may not be able to snare Tiger Woods or some of the other higher-profile lords of the links. But for the third year in a row, the powers that be—or, more specifically, Powerstation Events—plan on driving more attendance to the Cromwell, Conn.-based tourney with decibels.

“To produce a music concert amidst the backdrop of a PGA Tour event is a truly unique and excellent concept,” notes Powerstation President Al Vagnini, the man responsible for bringing Jefferson Starship and Little River Band into the fold this season amongst a player field that includes two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and more.

“[These concerts] continue to be a staple at our tournament, bringing top acts for our fans to enjoy at no additional cost to the ticketholder,” adds Travelers Championship Tournament Director Nathan Grube.

The 2014 Travelers tournament runs June 16-22. For a full schedule of events, ticket purchasing information and more, kindly point your browser to travelerschampionship.com.

Since we’ve engaged in a little “fore” play… in a secret only slightly more guarded than the fact that he apparently likes to shoot guns and smoke ganja, homegrown rocker/“Country Boy” Aaron Lewis also frequents the fairways.

And it’s this passion—coupled with his amazing Rolodex—that makes Lewis’ annual golf charity invitational successful. Although he hasn’t announced the field for the 2014 installment, the date of Aug. 9 and the facility at Crumpin-Fox in Bernardston have been confirmed.

When it comes to the other major feeder for Lewis’ benevolent activities—his annual Aaron Lewis & Friends concert, occurring this year at Look Park on June 27—a few more of the details have been firmed up. Particularly the “& friends” part.

“Some of them are the gentlemen I am sharing the stage with tonight,” Lewis declared during a recent Mohegan Sun engagement with his band Staind. The announcement was somewhat historic in that, while previous installments of the concert have included members from both Lewis’ country and rock worlds, his Staind-mates have never before participated.

All proceeds from both the tourney and the Look Park show benefit the It Takes A Community Foundation—an organization aimed at reviving New England communities that was spearheaded by Lewis himself.

For more info on the Foundation or to purchase tickets to either event, visit itacf.org.

In other news, after weeks of speculation and online name-dropping, the Springfield Business Improvement District (springfielddowntown.com) released the official lineup for the 2014 Stearns Square concert series. The free, outdoor Thursday night events draw thousands of music fans into Basketball City USA each summer. And based on the number of returning acts including Fat (July 3), Roomful of Blues (July 17), John Eddie (Aug. 14) and The Smithereens (Aug. 28), it seems the SBID is banking on familiar faces to keep the trend going. Other acts tapped for the 2014 installment include ’90s groove rockers The Spin Doctors (July 10), veteran blues/rockers Diamondback (July 24) and multiple Grand Band Slam award-winners Truckstop Troubadours (July 31). All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. Unlike last summer, there will be no opening acts in 2014, so don’t dawdle!

Mountain Men: As talk of a possible MGM Springfield affiliation with the historic, outdoor venue swirls, the Iron Horse Entertainment Group (iheg.com) has released the first official Mountain Park show of the 2014 season. The honor belongs to the country’s premier Zep-licators, Get The Led Out, who will hold court Saturday, Aug. 2 with Rush tribute LotusLand in tow. Tix range from $25 to $35 and are on sale now.•